Introducing Luke Taggart, Dealer Principal of Suttons Kenworth DAF Arncliffe, which is the PACCAR Dealer of the Month for January, 2017.

Suttons Motor Group has been involved in the motor industry since 1948. In this time it has built an invaluable reputation in the transport industry. Suttons Trucks at Arncliffe took on the heavy vehicle market in 1997 with PACCAR Australia to sell Kenworth trucks and then added DAF trucks in 2002.

One of the highs we are most proud of at our dealership is the substantial growth over the last 2 years, not only in truck sales and service but in the way our staff manage their day-to-day activities. Appointing a new sub dealer in 2016 also comes to mind for the positive impact in the Illawarra Basin.

Our dealership’s location is prominently situated between the Sydney CBD and Sydney airport. If you’re in the area be sure to visit Wolli Creek, our local.

The K200 is my favourite model, as it was the first PACCAR truck that I was involved in selling and it is such a prominent vehicle on Australian roads.

I was introduced to this role by chance. I was driving trucks and an advertisement for a truck sales trainee came up. I applied and three months later I received a phone call saying I had the job. As life happens it was the best thing. If I wasn’t working here I would be working on a farm up the north coast of NSW.

My father is my role model. He has taught me everything in life. He taught me that honesty and integrity is the cheapest thing he has ever given me as it is free, but the most expensive thing that will ever be taken from you.

Being trusted to run a large truck dealership and being given the autonomy to make decisions has so far been the most significant accomplishment of my career. The customer experience I am most proud of was when a very large fleet customer had their fleet defected and we found out about it on Saturday morning. We had to make modifications to the vehicle and sign off that they were roadworthy. We had the customer back on the road by Monday morning. The customer was over the moon with our service.

The future of the industry is forging along nicely in Sydney. I feel there is a large gap between owners and drivers. We as an industry need to really push driver training/driver safety.